Craig Brewer’s remake of Footloose has finished casting and the only guy in the movie you’ve heard of is Dennis Quaid, who will be playing the John Lithgow patrician role. You know, the guy who hates dancing. The rest of the cast is unknowns or up and comers, as it probably should be.
The new Kevin Bacon is a kid named Kenny Wormald, a professional dancer whose scant acting credits include a starring role in the DTV Center Stage 2: Turn It Up (I honestly did not know there was a Center Stage sequel!). His moves will be choreographed by Jamal Sims, who worked with Madonna and is doing the choreography for Neil Patrick Harris’ upcoming version of Rent (which I am dying to see).
I like Quaid as the baddie here and I think it tells us something about where Brewer is going. Lithgow, no matter what, has a level of goofiness to him. That’s part of his appeal. But while Quaid is charming and fun, he can really be threatening when he wants to be, and there’s little silliness evident in him when he’s doing seriously stern. This could be a more serious Footloose, which is kind of what I have been guessing since Brewer was announced to direct (and to rewrite the script).
The new Footloose hits theaters April 1, 2011.